A Novel Self-pitch Rotor of Marine Current Turbine

To address the complexities and low reliability of the pitch control system in marine current turbines, the concept of a fixed pitch angle self-pitch rotor was introduced. However, research findings indicate that the rotor starts more easily at a pitch angle of -8° and reaches its peak energy capture efficiency of $34.57 \%$ at a pitch angle of -2°, given a rated flow rate of $0.4 \mathrm{~m} / \mathrm{s}$. This suggests that the pitch angle significantly influences both the startup efficiency at low rates and the energy capture efficiency at high rates. This paper presents a novel self-pitch rotor design that achieves automatic pitch angle adjustment through the impact of water flow. This innovative structure substantially improves both startup efficiency and energy capture efficiency, offering technical solutions to facilitate the commercialization of marine current turbines.